In my house hold Charity definitely begins at home and did do from the day when i met my missus to when we had 2 wonderful kids.
Nothing is more important to me than my family so of course charity begins at home.
Dumb question if you ask me.:D
The government take so much of our money how can any average family or person give anything to an outside charity.

In my house hold Charity definitely begins at home and did do from the day when i met my missus to when we had 2 wonderful kids.
Nothing is more important to me than my family so of course charity begins at home.
Dumb question if you ask me.

The government take so much of our money how can any average family or person give anything to an outside charity.

It all depends on you level of wealth and your experiences. Certainly if you are struggling then it does. Many need help and the generosity of the British public is renowned, so overall it probably does not.

It all depends on you level of wealth and your experiences. Certainly if you are struggling then it does. Many need help and the generosity of the British public is renowned, so overall it probably does not.

[quote]In my house hold Charity definitely begins at home and did do from the day when i met my missus to when we had 2 wonderful kids.
Nothing is more important to me than my family so of course charity begins at home.
Dumb question if you ask me.:D
The government take so much of our money how can any average family or person give anything to an outside charity.[/quote]
Charity really should begin at home and particularly it is about developing values which respect that others may be less fortunate. If you really can't afford even £2 a month to give to charity, you can always donate things to the charity shop or even go out and fundraise if you want. It's all about wanting to do something and many of us are benefiting nowadays from the generosity of those who have previously supported charities such as [link=http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/] Cancer Research UK [/link]who get NO government funding. I sincerely hope you and your family never need to benefit from the research carried out by CRUK, but you might then wish to consider what "beginning at home" really means.

Quote:In my house hold Charity definitely begins at home and did do from the day when i met my missus to when we had 2 wonderful kids.
Nothing is more important to me than my family so of course charity begins at home.
Dumb question if you ask me.

The government take so much of our money how can any average family or person give anything to an outside charity.

Charity really should begin at home and particularly it is about developing values which respect that others may be less fortunate. If you really can't afford even £2 a month to give to charity, you can always donate things to the charity shop or even go out and fundraise if you want. It's all about wanting to do something and many of us are benefiting nowadays from the generosity of those who have previously supported charities such as Cancer Research UK who get NO government funding. I sincerely hope you and your family never need to benefit from the research carried out by CRUK, but you might then wish to consider what "beginning at home" really means.

A fair size portion of what we contribute in taxes is given to various charities around the world, and in our own countries. When I was working, I gave through payroll deduction; it was spread out over most legit charities, but now we just give to a few local charities where we're pretty certain where it's going.

A fair size portion of what we contribute in taxes is given to various charities around the world, and in our own countries. When I was working, I gave through payroll deduction; it was spread out over most legit charities, but now we just give to a few local charities where we're pretty certain where it's going.

....I was in a charity shop in Cheltenham looking for a new suit...sorry I mean a book, when a down and out came in and asked the woman behind the counter for a £ for a cup of coffee, to be met by a refusal and words along the lines of ..."what if everybody came in asking for money, we'd have to shut down"
..."what do you think this is"... said I ..."a charity ?"

....I was in a charity shop in Cheltenham looking for a new suit...sorry I mean a book, when a down and out came in and asked the woman behind the counter for a £ for a cup of coffee, to be met by a refusal and words along the lines of ..."what if everybody came in asking for money, we'd have to shut down"

[quote]In my house hold Charity definitely begins at home and did do from the day when i met my missus to when we had 2 wonderful kids.
Nothing is more important to me than my family so of course charity begins at home.
Dumb question if you ask me.:D
The government take so much of our money how can any average family or person give anything to an outside charity.
Charity really should begin at home and particularly it is about developing values which respect that others may be less fortunate. If you really can't afford even £2 a month to give to charity, you can always donate things to the charity shop or even go out and fundraise if you want. It's all about wanting to do something and many of us are benefiting nowadays from the generosity of those who have previously supported charities such as Cancer Research UK who get NO government funding. I sincerely hope you and your family never need to benefit from the research carried out by CRUK, but you might then wish to consider what "beginning at home" really means.[/quote]
I just want to say i do my bit for charity by cycling and keeping fit at the same time for charity i cycled from Cambridge to Norwich 80miles for the antenatal unit of Norwich Hospital and have a lovely medal to prove it, and done many other things too like making toys from wood that we auctioned for the Air ambulance.
But like the Question stated, "should charity begin at home" then of course it should and in my house hold it does so please get of that soap box and stop your presuming.

Quote:In my house hold Charity definitely begins at home and did do from the day when i met my missus to when we had 2 wonderful kids.
Nothing is more important to me than my family so of course charity begins at home.
Dumb question if you ask me.

The government take so much of our money how can any average family or person give anything to an outside charity.

Charity really should begin at home and particularly it is about developing values which respect that others may be less fortunate. If you really can't afford even £2 a month to give to charity, you can always donate things to the charity shop or even go out and fundraise if you want. It's all about wanting to do something and many of us are benefiting nowadays from the generosity of those who have previously supported charities such as Cancer Research UK who get NO government funding. I sincerely hope you and your family never need to benefit from the research carried out by CRUK, but you might then wish to consider what "beginning at home" really means.

I just want to say i do my bit for charity by cycling and keeping fit at the same time for charity i cycled from Cambridge to Norwich 80miles for the antenatal unit of Norwich Hospital and have a lovely medal to prove it, and done many other things too like making toys from wood that we auctioned for the Air ambulance.
But like the Question stated, "should charity begin at home" then of course it should and in my house hold it does so please get of that soap box and stop your presuming.

And you say only £2 a month, again your presuming some people have that after the Government have ripped them off.
If your in that wonderful position to give then go ahead you lucky man, but because of government businesses are struggling to stay open lively hoods are being lost, jobs are being lost all over the country we as a whole are in a bad economic crisis and you go on about giving money away when every single penny in small and large business is needed to keep going, infact in reality £2 would not touch the debt they have but every penny helps.

And you say only £2 a month, again your presuming some people have that after the Government have ripped them off.
If your in that wonderful position to give then go ahead you lucky man, but because of government businesses are struggling to stay open lively hoods are being lost, jobs are being lost all over the country we as a whole are in a bad economic crisis and you go on about giving money away when every single penny in small and large business is needed to keep going, infact in reality £2 would not touch the debt they have but every penny helps.

Most of the donations that are made to charity are via events organised at work. Dress down days, cakes sales, etc etc. So from that fact, I have to disagree with your commment. [quote]Does charity begin at home? [/quote]

Most of the donations that are made to charity are via events organised at work. Dress down days, cakes sales, etc etc. So from that fact, I have to disagree with your commment. Quote:Does charity begin at home?

I have often heard this discussed in terms of 'why are we giving bazillions in aid to Africa when there are people in this country who need it' and this can be applied even more so given the state of our economy. But as the OP has not yet clarified what they wanted to discuss...

I have often heard this discussed in terms of 'why are we giving bazillions in aid to Africa when there are people in this country who need it' and this can be applied even more so given the state of our economy. But as the OP has not yet clarified what they wanted to discuss...

We are all hypocrites to a certain extent. Not comfortable acknowledging it, but I think we have to be to survive mentally.
Take for example... a story in the Daily Mail about a mother dog and her 7 pups found abandoned in Lincolnshire the other week. A deluge of enquiries and offers of homes for the pups (the piece mentions the mother is still looking and I now see quite a few enquiries about the mother). A sob story that ignites people compassion. Yet there are numerous just as deserving animals sitting in shelters around the country without a sob story attached, desperate for a home. Same with 'abroad' charity appeals - starving children in Africa look so much cuter than the children with ADD and foetal alcohol syndrome that have ended up in care homes in the UK. These children are not appealling. But why are they not as deserving of our compassion as those in other countries? How far does it have to be an external cause of suffering for us to feel compassion? Do we believe that those who appear to have had a choice, bring it on themselves? Certainly there are far more opportunities for help and support in this country and for a long time I lost all sympathy with street beggers in the UK after returning from Africa and seeing the beggars there and what they have to contend with.
The most difficult thing I have to reconcile myself with... I campaign along with other dog lovers to get a ban on abusive training methods and equipment such as choke chains and electric shock collars. Yet at the same time, I know that the farm animals that went into the bag of dog food downstairs suffered far more than any dog would.
We have to choose our causes, choose our battles to be able to fight them well. The important thing is having a cause you believe in to fight for.

We are all hypocrites to a certain extent. Not comfortable acknowledging it, but I think we have to be to survive mentally.

Take for example... a story in the Daily Mail about a mother dog and her 7 pups found abandoned in Lincolnshire the other week. A deluge of enquiries and offers of homes for the pups (the piece mentions the mother is still looking and I now see quite a few enquiries about the mother). A sob story that ignites people compassion. Yet there are numerous just as deserving animals sitting in shelters around the country without a sob story attached, desperate for a home. Same with 'abroad' charity appeals - starving children in Africa look so much cuter than the children with ADD and foetal alcohol syndrome that have ended up in care homes in the UK. These children are not appealling. But why are they not as deserving of our compassion as those in other countries? How far does it have to be an external cause of suffering for us to feel compassion? Do we believe that those who appear to have had a choice, bring it on themselves? Certainly there are far more opportunities for help and support in this country and for a long time I lost all sympathy with street beggers in the UK after returning from Africa and seeing the beggars there and what they have to contend with.

The most difficult thing I have to reconcile myself with... I campaign along with other dog lovers to get a ban on abusive training methods and equipment such as choke chains and electric shock collars. Yet at the same time, I know that the farm animals that went into the bag of dog food downstairs suffered far more than any dog would.

We have to choose our causes, choose our battles to be able to fight them well. The important thing is having a cause you believe in to fight for.

[quote]And you say only £2 a month, again your presuming some people have that after the Government have ripped them off.
If your in that wonderful position to give then go ahead you lucky man, but because of government businesses are struggling to stay open lively hoods are being lost, jobs are being lost all over the country we as a whole are in a bad economic crisis and you go on about giving money away when every single penny in small and large business is needed to keep going, infact in reality £2 would not touch the debt they have but every penny helps.[/quote]
£2 a month is less than you're paying for e2 membership, but it's your money and entirely your choice on how to spend it. And I wasn't on a soapbox in the earlier post, merely suggesting how people could contribute even if they didn't have cash available. ;)

Quote:And you say only £2 a month, again your presuming some people have that after the Government have ripped them off.
If your in that wonderful position to give then go ahead you lucky man, but because of government businesses are struggling to stay open lively hoods are being lost, jobs are being lost all over the country we as a whole are in a bad economic crisis and you go on about giving money away when every single penny in small and large business is needed to keep going, infact in reality £2 would not touch the debt they have but every penny helps.

£2 a month is less than you're paying for e2 membership, but it's your money and entirely your choice on how to spend it. And I wasn't on a soapbox in the earlier post, merely suggesting how people could contribute even if they didn't have cash available.